Alchymist

'We'll fly across the range, then swing back and come on the place at night, on foot.'

The idea seemed absurd. How could they hope to find Gilhaelith in such a vast city, with so many lyrinx below and nearby? And if they did, how could they hope to free him?

They crossed the range north of the Zarqa Gap, at a pass that bore just a dusting of untracked snow. Keeping to what cloud they could find, they continued west over grassland and forest. The sun was sinking over the impassable swamp forests of Orist as they made a sweeping curve south and then east, approaching the range at its widest point, well south of Zarqa. Malien worked a set of concealed controls beneath the binnacle, then took the machine down as the sun set, cruising in the light of the stars, just above the treetops. It was eerie; everything was black and white and Tiaan found it difficult to measure distance. Trees and rocky peaks rushed at them out of nowhere.

'Aren't you worried about being spotted?' said Tiaan.

'I've just put a concealment on the thapter,' Malien said cryptically. 'It's quite effective from this distance, though I don't know how long I can keep it up.'

They floated above the treetops for hours, Talis and Forgre staring at their maps and conversing in whispers, before Talis said, 'Go down onto that bare spur, just to the left.'

Malien settled the thapter expertly on a shelf of some pale-coloured stone, shaped like the bowl of a spoon. A tree with a split trunk, black against the white bark, leaned out to overhang the end of the ridge.

'This is as close as we dare go,' said Forgre, rubbing his i beardless cheek. 'We're but two leagues from Alcifer and Oellyll, the lyrinx city beneath it. Tens of thousands of lyrinx dwell there, and they hunt in these mountains.'

Are we close to those terraces we saw yesterday?' said Tiaan. She could smell brimstone.

'They're that way,' said Talis, pointing towards the sea. They run east for leagues, then north high above the coast.'

'If you listen closely,' said Malien, 'you can hear the geysers going.'

No one spoke for a while, and in the distance Tiaan heard a rushing sound that built up to a muted roar before fading away.

'It seems a little risky, going down to Alcifer on foot,' she ventured.

'You mean insane and incomprehensible,' Malien observed dryly. 'I daren't take the thapter any closer. No concealment is perfect.'

'How are you going to find Gilhaelith in such a vast place?'

'We have certain information about his whereabouts.'

'How can you be sure it's reliable?'

'That's Forgre's job,' said Malien. 'He's our most gifted spy. Apparently the lyrinx shun Alcifer itself, so if Gilhaelith is there, using power, he won't be hard to find. Once Forgre discovers where he is, we'll fly down and snatch him.'

'Just like that?' said Tiaan.

'I hope so.'

'If Gilhaelith's in Alcifer, he must be trusted by the enemy.'

'He may be assisting them,' Forgre said, 'but I doubt they trust him.'

'From what I hear of Gilhaelith, he's always out for himself' said Malien. 'I'd say they have some hold over him.'

Tiaan walked to the edge of the rock and stood looking down. The deep valley was like a pool of ink with a few pinpoints of light floating on it, starlight touching the tips of the tallest trees. She was so afraid, her knees would barely hold her up. Tiaan had sworn, after her captivity in Kalissin, that she would never go near the lyrinx again. But she had, and they'd put her into the patterners in Snizort. It was a horror she thought about every day.

Malien moved the thapter into deeper shelter and strengthened the concealment. 'That should be enough. It's a balance between doing enough to conceal the machine but not so much as to alert the enemy.'

'What if a lyrinx chances to walk past?'

'Any ordinary lyrinx could walk right into the thapter and just think it was rock. It hurts me to maintain it, though, so I hope it's not necessary for long.'

Malien turned into the forest. They followed silently, after an hour coming onto a narrow ridge that terminated in a cliff.

Malien peered over with her spyglass. 'Alcifer, look!' The hairs stood up on her nape.

Domes and spires rose out of woolly fog that hung in the hollows of the abandoned city like a bathtub full of kapok. How could a place abandoned so long ago still seem to hold such menace?

Forgre had been out several times. Tiaan had wondered how he could pass through the lyrinx guards into Alcifer, until she saw him in action. A master of the spying Art, he could blend into the background as well as any lyrinx, and when he moved it baffled the eye. It took a lot out of him, though; Forgre was always exhausted when he came back.

On their third day of watching, an air-floater appeared through a gap in the clouds and circled above Alcifer several times, before disappearing into the clouds again.

'What's that doing here?' hissed Malien.

'Oellyll is the greatest enemy city,' said Forgre. 'The scrutators often spy on it, now that they can fly above lyrinx height.'

'I can't imagine they'd see much from such an altitude.'

'It must be good for old-human morale.'

'Unfortunately for us, it'll make the lyrinx more watchful than ever,' said Malien.

'It may draw them away from us, at least.'

Their fliers will be looking down as well as up.'

Then we'll just have to be even more careful,' Forgre said arily.

'Ah, I'm done in,' he said on his return from another mission. It was around midday on their fifth day of watching, and they were still camped by the lookout. The weather was cold and gloomy, with driven rain-showers, a chilly wind and occa-signal breaks of a watery sun that silvered the metal domes of Alcifer, far below.

Tiaan took up the spyglass and, as she had done a hundred times in the past days, swept it around and over the city. When the scudding showers passed, she could see slaves toiling in the lower gardens.

'Did you find him?' said Malien.

'No, though I know he's there.' Forgre looked down at his wiry hands, which were shaking. 'I'll have to rest awhile — my aftersickness is bad here.'

Tiaan looked through the spyglass again. 'He's there.' 'Forgre just said that,' Malien reminded her. There! Look!' Tiaan rose to her feet, pointing to a ridge east of theirs, which was rather lower. Its point, bare of trees, was momentarily exposed through the drifting mist.

Malien snatched the glass. 'I see six slaves, no, eight. They appear to be making readings of the field, at the direction of a very tall man. There could be more slaves in the shade of the trees.'

'It's Gilhaelith!' Tiaan whispered. 'Are you sure?' 'Positive.'

'How long have they been there?' 'I don't know. The mist has only just cleared.' 'They'll probably be taking readings for a while,' said Malien. 'This is the best chance we'll ever get. But how to do it?'

'Why not just fly there and grab him?' said Tiaan.

'The guards will hear the thapter long before we get there.

I can't conceal that. Once they do, the illusion will break and they'll vanish into the forest with him. We'll have to get to Gilhaelith on foot. Tiaan, slip back to the thapter and take it across, but hang further up the ridge, in the mist. My concealment will hold as long as you don't get too close.'

'What are you going to do?'

'We'll go across, also under concealment, and hide near the wall of the lowest terrace. I'll know when you're coming and take Gilhaelith. The instant I signal, race down and pick us up.'

'Are you sure you can do it?'

'Yes. You'd better get going.'

It all seemed suspiciously easy, but it would be presumptuous of her to challenge Malien's plan. As the Aachim disappeared beneath her concealment it occurred to Tiaan that Forgre's aftersickness had seemed really bad. She hoped he was up to it, because he certainly didn't look it.